1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector in which deflection (also referred to as twist) in a transverse direction is suppressed in a terminal inserted into a terminal accommodation chamber of a connector housing so that the terminal can be accommodated and held in the connector housing in an appropriate attitude.
2. Description of the Related Art
A connector is well-known in which a lance having flexibility is provided in a terminal accommodation chamber in the inside of a connector housing and then beaks (lock protrusions) of the lance engage with lock holes of the terminal so that the terminal is held and fixed (for example, see JP-A-2012-84404).
FIG. 15 shows an example of a connector of this kind according to the conventional art known to the public.
A connector 101 includes: a connector housing 110; a terminal 150 attached to the tip of an electric wire W and then accommodated and held in the inside of the connector housing 110; a front holder 170 attached to the inside of the connector housing 110 from the frontward thereof; a lever 180 attached to the connector housing 110 and then rotated at the time of fitting between the connector 101 and a counterpart connector 102 (see FIG. 17A) so as to establish complete fit by using a small force by using the principle of the lever; a waterproof plug 160; and a packing 165.
The connector housing 110 is provided with: an outer housing part 111; and an inner housing part 112 located on the inner side thereof. The inside of the inner housing part 112 is provided with a terminal accommodation chamber 114 into which the terminal 150 is inserted from the rearward thereof; a stopper 115 for positioning and locking the terminal 150 such as to prevent frontward movement thereof; and a flexible lance 120 for, when the terminal 150 is inserted into the terminal accommodation chamber 114 from the rearward thereof, pushed by the terminal 150 so as to temporarily suffer deformation to the outer side (downward in FIG. 15) of the insertion path for the terminal 150, then, at a stage that the terminal 150 has been inserted to a position determined by the stopper 115, restored from the deformation so that a beak 122 engages with a lock hole 154 of the terminal 150, and thereby positioning and locking the terminal 150 such as to prevent rearward movement thereof. The lance 120 is provided with only one beak 122.
Meanwhile, in the above-mentioned connector 101 of the conventional art, as shown in FIG. 16, when a tension in a bending direction (in a transverse direction perpendicular to the frontward and rearward directions identical to the insertion direction of the terminal) indicated by arrow X acts on the electric wire W extending to the rearward of the connector housing 110, a possibility arises that the terminal deflects excessively in the transverse direction in the inside of the terminal accommodation chamber.
In particular, in the connector 101 of the conventional art, as shown in FIG. 17A, merely one beak 122 provided in the lance 120 engages with the lock hole 154 of the terminal 150. Thus, a possibility arises that a force (i.e., a holding force) for holding the terminal 150 in the inside of the terminal accommodation chamber 114 is weak. Further, a possibility arises that backlash in the inside of the terminal accommodation chamber 114 allows the terminal 150 to easily deflect obliquely in a transverse direction, and hence a possibility arises that the terminal 150 is twisted in a transverse direction so that engagement between the terminal 150 and the lance 120 is easily released.
Further, when the connector 101 and the counterpart connector 102 fit to each other in a state that a tension acts on the electric wire W, like in a portion indicated by P in FIG. 17B, a possibility arises that the tip of the male tab terminal 106 of the counterpart connector 102 violently collides with the front end of the terminal 150 of the connector 101, and hence a possibility arises that poor contact occurs in a worst case.
The present invention has been devised in view of the above-mentioned situation. An object thereof is to provide a connector in which even in a case that a twisting force in the right and left directions acts on a terminal when an electric wire extending to the rearward of a connector housing is pulled or the like in a transverse direction, deflection (also referred to as twist) of the terminal in the inside of a terminal accommodation chamber can be suppressed to a minimal extent so that the problem of violent collision of the terminals at the time of connector fitting is resolved so that the terminals can smoothly be electrically connected to each other and further a holding force for the terminal can be improved.